Woah...10 days until the 5th annual Script Frenzy event gets under way, and nearly 8,400 of you have signed up already!!
To celebrate what is definitely the funnest and most popular writing challenge of the year, we've taken 50% off the price of Celtx Script for iPad/iPhone ... Now $4.99 for a limited time at The App Store
So go forth and purchase, and give yourself the winning advantage of being able to write from anywhere at anytime.
100 pages. 30 days. Are You in?
Good news, folks. v2.9 of the Celtx desktop software is now available for free download at http://celtx.com.
We put in a lot of effort 'under the hood' on the new version, making 22 fixes and improvements and a slew of UI tweaks. Like always, we recommend you upgrade to this new version for improved performance and reliability.
v2.9 comes with a new Novel editor that's integrated with Index Cards and intelligently tied into notes, media, breakdown, and story development forms. Data created in a novel project - such as character profiles and location descriptions - can be used in a subsequent reworking of the novel to film, stage, audioplay, comic book or A/V.
We've also hard-wired in other new features, so you can now:
The Sketch tool also has been beefed up to support 360 degree rotation of rectangles and ovals. And we've dropped in a new Celtx Store tab in the right hand sidebar, to display apps and add-ons that improve your Celtx setup.
Celtx Studios - Celtx Script Sync
Screenplay, stageplay and audio-visual scripts can now be synced between Celtx Script on the iPad/iPhone and Celtx Studios.
Syncing sends and receives script updates to/from your Celtx Studio projects while you are mobile. You can get the latest release of Celtx Script for the iPad/iPhone at the Apple App Store http://itunes.apple.com/app/celtx-script/id381536091?mt=8
As always, we are keen on receiving feedback. If you have any suggestions, please chime in by emailing us at info@celtx.com
THANKS for making Celtx the #1 choice in pre-production.
The Celtx Development Team
Sheila, Steve, Laurie, Lez, Simon, Greg, Tony, Chad and Mark
Join us for a free demo and tour of the Celtx pre-production system.
Mark, Sheila and Laurie from Celtx HQ will host, and Celtx #1 trainer and award-winning filmmaker/educator, Mike Jones*, is flying in from Sydney, Australia to run the show.
We'll give you an exciting top to tail demo of the new Celtx v2.9 desktop software, online Celtx Studios, and Celtx Script for the iPad/iPhone. Plus we'll have a Q&A (have any feature requests?) and give away Celtx jackets and T's, Celtx Studios subscriptions and copies of Celtx Script.
We don't do these very often (first in 4 years!) so don't miss this once-in-a-really-long-time opportunity!
When: Thursday, February 10 - 5:30pm (Drinks) / 6:00 (Demo)
Where: The Off Broadway Room, 5th Fl, Doubletree Hotel, Times Square
Come along and bring a friend, or two, or the whole production team. Space is limiited though so hurry and get your free ticket today.
(And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @celtx)
About Mike Jones:
Mike Jones has a background spanning technical production, writing, script development and academic research on screen culture and practice. He is an award winning teacher with extensive experience in media technology, creative production, journalism and online development.
Mike has worked both in the Australia and the US in script editing, TV series and feature film script development, is a produced and award winning playwright, journalist and former editor for the Australian National Playwright's Centre. He has written extensively on screen industry trends and culture with more than 200 published essays, articles, reviews and several books for students of screen media. Mike is also a hard-core video gamer and is involved with research projects exploring game narratives with the University of NSW.
Mike frequently presents guest lectures and specialist classes internationally at conferences and institutions in the UK, US and Europe and, in recent years has presented at the Virtuality conference in Italy, the Cinema and Technology conference in the UK and the keynote lecture at the international conference on Computer Interaction and Video Gaming in Germany.
Mike has rich expertise in online development and has been involved in the creation of key online resources related to cinema and digital media collecting a swag of awards along the way including; Wireless to Web - winner of the 2005 ATOM award for best education website, Soundbyte - winner of 2003 Eureka Science Prize for Outstanding Communications Technology and a Premier’s Award for online production in 2004. In 2007 Mike was presented with the Professional Teachers Council Outstanding Service Award for Teaching.
Mike is currently lecturer in screen studies at the Australian Film TV and Radio School where he teaches specialist courses in Science Fiction and Horror genres and has designed new courses in WebTV and online episodic series screenwriting. He also frequently lecturers in digital production and cinema history at the University of NSW.
He blogs prolifically about everything on screen at www.mikejones.tv
From our Celtx Family to yours, we wish all our friends around the globe the very best for a safe and fun-filled holiday, and look forward to an exciting and successful 2011!
We'll be taking a few days off over the holidays but will still be keeping an eye on the forums and support emails. So while we may not respond in our typical speedy fashion, we will get back you 
Cheers to All, and many Thanks for your continued support.
Lotsa Love,
Sheila, Laurie, Steve, Tony, Lez, Chad, Greg and Mark
Winners of TMUNDERGROUND'S 2010 Ollie Awards were recently announced and as co-sponsors of this stellar machinima-making event, the Celtx Team would like to extend hearty Hi-5's to all who participated, with special Kudos reserved for the following award winners who clearly set the bar a little higher with some inspiring and beautifully crafted works. Celtx is proud to pony up a Celtx Studio and Super Bundle add-on to each of these exceptionally talented machinima pros. For your entertainment and viewing pleasure be sure to click on the links below...
ChatNoir Studios for 'Death in Venice' - winner of best picture, best long form film, & most outstanding screenwriter. Written by Kate Lee /Directed by Kate Lee & Sherwin Liu
Edan Mackenzie for 'Family Values '- winner of best short form film and best leadig actor (K4)
Joseph Kwong for 'Tribute'- winner of best single screenplay
BIG Thanks to friend and Celtx enthusiast, Matthieu Gras for taking the time to prepare this report on his experience at the 2010 London Screenwriters' Festival which wrapped up last week.
Dear Celtx team and users,
If there was one place you just had to be last weekend it was Regents College... for the London Screenwriters' Festival!
It was an amazing three day event that saw the most respected screenwriters and producers of the British film and TV industry gathered together under one roof.
How to break into the industry and get your foot in the door... How to survive as a writer... How the BBC chooses the writers for its most popular series... How to pitch your project and make sure it will be optioned... How to write for video games... How to win your first Oscar... These were just some of the subjects broached.
There were more than 30 seminars to attend, hosted by renowned guests all sharing their experience with a captivated audience of writers of all ages. And each visitor did, indeed, benefit from an endless source of advice and tips, taking the opportunity to share their own experiences, doubts and sometimes fears with this dream haven of professionals as well as with the general screenwriter community.
Your favourite preproduction software was not only part of the event but figured as a major partner of the festival. When I asked the writers who their best ally was in the writing process only one word came out... Celtx!
They all seemed to appreciate the flexibility and the variety of options made available by the freeware, along with its philosophy and the facility to work on a collaborative project by using the studio.
To quote just some of the comments:
"A blessing for writers", " It's intuitiveness saves me precious time that I then spend on the creative process", "The best way to share your screenplay with co-writers and collaborators" ...
Celtx, it would seem, has kept the lead in writing software and collaborative platforms... And, at the festival, the British community confirmed it in unison!
No doubt the LSF will return next year for more creative adventures, meetings, seminars and networking events...
No doubt Celtx will be part of it...
No doubt we will all enjoy it!
Your London correspondent,
Matthieu Gras
Hi, Everyone!
News from Celtx HQ...
New ClipSketch iPad App
New Sketch Images
Future Development of Celtx
ClipSketch
We are pleased to announce that version 1.0 of our new ClipSketch iPad app is available in the Apple App Store for the introductory price of $1.99.
ClipSketch is based on the Sketch feature included in Celtx and has all the same capabilities, including the ability to design overhead lighting and camera setups.
You can export any sketch as a PNG, PDF or SVG.
New Sketch Images
We've added 260 new images to the full Art Pack bundle, for a total of 625 images.
If you have previously purchased Art Packs 1-11 or the Super Bundle add-on (Writers Pack + all Art Packs), you can get the 260 new images for free via Purchase Support
Future Development of Celtx
Celtx 3.0
Work on the new version of the Celtx desktop software is going well. Among other things, we are adding support for Novels, a new design for the Media and Breakdown sidebar, and tackling some of the remaining bugs.
New export options will enable you to more easily share data from a Celtx Project to your team. We hope to ship version 3.0 just before (or just after) the New Year.
Mobile - Celtx Studios Integration
The Celtx Studios will soon support opening scripts and sketches directly to the iPad/iPhone.
Edits made to either type of file, while mobile, will get saved back to the Project in the Studio, providing a much better experience for Studio users.
Mobile - Celtx Script
We are adding support for additional templates (eg. AV and Stageplays) to the Celtx Script app. These too will work directly from a Celtx Studio.
Feedback
As always, we are keen on receiving feedback. In the case of ClipSketch we have a dedicated email address for any suggestions - info@clipsketch.com.
If you have any other suggestions, like how you think we should integrate the mobile apps with Celtx and Celtx Studios, or what new features you would like to see added to the Celtx desktop software, please chime in with whatever you think would help - info@celtx.com
THANKS for making Celtx the #1 choice in pre-production.
The Celtx Development Team
Sheila, Steve, Laurie, Lez, Greg, Tony, Chad and Mark
Be sure to follow @celtx and @ClipSketch on Twitter!
